No. A donation to the The Gift Trust is non-refundable and cannot be returned as it becomes owned by The Gift Trust (this enables you to access the immediate tax credit). Funds can only be withdrawn from the Gift Account to donate to charitable causes.

You can recommend donations to any entity that has a charitable purpose including

• New Zealand registered charities
• Unregistered organisations with a clear charitable purpose such as incorporated societies or social enterprises.
• International charitable organisations (we have limited capacity for this so please discuss it in advance).
• Individuals only under exceptional circumstances where the donation is charitable, such as the recipient of a scholarship or award that was competitively received.

In the case of unregistered charitable organisations or international charities, additional due diligence will be needed to ensure there is a clear charitable purpose which will usually incur an extra fee for the donors.

The Gift Trust cannot donate to:

• Political campaigns, candidates, or to support purely lobbying activity.
• Membership fees, school fees, goods from a charitable auction, admission to charity events or other goods or services.
• Anything that will result in a private benefit or profit to an individual person.
• Any recipients that the Trust believes, in its sole discretion, are supporting or engaging in ‘hate speech or hateful activities’, whether online or offline. ‘Hateful activities’ are those that incite or engage in violence, intimidation, harassment, threats or defamation, targeting an individual or group based on their race, colour, religion, national origin, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.

Gift Accounts will save you time and money over setting up your own Foundation. They are a flexible giving tool for individuals, families and businesses that wish to actively participate in grant making without the administrative burden of a stand-alone foundation or trust.

A Gift Account is fast to set up. We already have registered charitable status, so you don’t need to go through the expense of writing up trust deeds, talking with lawyers and registering with the Charities Commission. Foundations also often require considerable ongoing costs.

Accounts must reach $5,000 before donations to charities can be made. You can start a Gift Account with a minimum $1,000 balance and you can add to the fund and provide further contributions over time to reach this account minimum.

Gift account fees vary depending on size, but range from 1-2%. Read more about account types and fees here.

You can choose to fund your Gift Account through one lump sum donation, or a recurring donation. It’s up to you.

You do. You choose the charities you care about most and submit donation recommendations to us. We will check the charities credentials and will follow your recommendations unless there is a specific reason why we can’t, such as the organisation not having a charitable purpose. We would then discuss this with you to find a solution.

We can also offer advice for your gifts and can provide significant research into charitable fields of interest.

You are not subject to annual gift spending requirements. We will prompt you to make a donation if we haven’t received any advice from you after three years.

If no donations are made from the account after three years and we are unable to contact you after reasonable attempts, the Trustees will endeavour to donate your funds in line with your areas of interest outlined in your applicaiton form or any other giving strategy we may have developed alongside you. See our Guide to Gift Accounts above for more details.

You will receive an annual donation receipt from The Gift Trust for any contributions made to your fund. It is your responsibility to claim the corresponding tax credit from IRD.

We can give a small proportion of funds internationally each year but please speak to us in advance as we have limited capacity. International donations incur additional fees.

The Gift Trust supports our donors, who are generally individuals and families, to make funding decisions that fit their philanthropic vision. It is up to each donor to choose which charity to support but we can provide research and due diligence. We don’t accept unsolicited applications from charities, but proactively seek organisations that match our donor’s strategies.

For alternate funding information, we recommend:

Match | Te Puna Taurite (MTPT) helps both those seeking and distributing philanthropic and grant funding. The vision of Match | Te Puna Taurite is a more equitable, accessible and collaborative funding system. It aims to connect those with funds to those that seek them.

Strategic Grants provides free learning resources for grant-seekers and works with non-profit organisations to build capacity to be ready to apply to grants, with grants calendars and GEMS grants management systems.

If you are interested in donating from the USA, please click here.